Mercy Health  Children’s Hospital and Nationwide Children’s Hospital are pleased to announce an innovative affiliation to enhance pediatric health care services for children and their families in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

The two children’s hospitals have entered a partnership to offer patients at Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital greater access to cost-effective pediatric services, outstanding continuum of care within the region, and seamless access to Nationwide Children’s providers as needed. They will work collaboratively to share best practices for clinical and non-clinical operations to further Mercy Health — Children’s Hospital’s 20-year legacy of high-quality, compassionate and expert delivery of care. 

The hospitals will collaborate on population health initiatives, as well as research integration. For example, Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital patients will have access to cancer clinical trials consortium at Nationwide Children’s to provide patients with access to cutting edge cancer treatments. The affiliation will also enhance recruitment, retention and training of pediatric physicians and staff, and develop an enhanced network of local and regional based pediatric providers through expanded services, educational opportunities and operational resources.

“Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital and Nationwide Children’s Hospital are driven to provide the highest quality and most diverse pediatric health care services in our region and therefore minimize the need for families to leave our community to receive care,” said Bob Baxter, president, Mercy Health – Toledo. “Individually, our children’s hospitals have long provided expert care to our youngest patients. This collaboration will offer more healing opportunities for these patients so that our children and their families can concentrate on becoming well.” 

Nationwide Children’s is a nationally recognized pediatric hospital and research center. Consistently named to U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll list of America’s top 10 children’s hospitals, Nationwide Children’s has more than 1.5 million patient visits each year representing patients from all 50 states and 45 countries.

“Nationwide Children’s is committed to innovative partnerships that allow families to receive high-quality pediatric care in their community whenever possible, while ensuring continuity of care for cases in which a family needs to travel for certain services,” said Rick Miller, president and chief operating officer at Nationwide Children’s. “We look forward to working closely with Mercy Health leadership, physicians and clinical staff to serve children and families throughout northwest Ohio.”